Obama unveils us strategy in Libya

The US will intervene whenever values treasured by it are threatened anywhere in the world. But it will not do so by going it alone. It wants its allies and nations that share these values to share the responsibility and the costs.

The US will intervene whenever values treasured by it are threatened anywhere in the world. But it will not do so by going it alone. It wants its allies and nations that share these values to share the responsibility and the costs.

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Welcome to the Obama Doctrine on intervention, as laid out by the US president in a speech from the country's premier military academy here on Monday in response to doubts and questions dogging his handling of the Libyan crisis.

"There will be times, though, when our safety is not directly threatened, but our interests and values are…," Obama said, adding, "…in such cases, we should not be afraid to act - but the burden of action should not be America's alone."

It was promptly hailed as the Obama Doctrine as it unfolded in Libya.

This was a long overdue speech, one that Obama was forced into by his critics who had many issues - that the President delayed the intervention, he didn't intervene enough and that he bypassed the Congress. And, the most serious of all charges, he took the US to war from foreign soil.